Winding down, but not letting up!

This past week brought more, yes you guessed it, more rain! Even the locals have said this has been an odd summer- exceptionally wet and cooler than normal. Below is a picture I took of the traffic in the rain when I was walking back after work.

Thursday evening, Natalie and I headed over to the Theater District for another Broadway show. Natalie had been wanting to go to the Tony Award-winning show, Next to Normal, all summer. I'm always up for musical theater and the show seemed like something out of the ordinary. As New York Times says, Next to Normal "does not qualify as your standard feel-good musical." The plot revolves around a modern-day family starring Alice Ripley as the mother suffering from bi-polar disease 18 years after the death of her infant son. The anguish felt by this family drives straight to the core of the audience. The music was brilliant and even though the plot didn't give you the warm-fuzzy feeling, the overall show was fantastic- to be expected on Broadway! Check out the video of the selection from the show that was performed earlier this summer at the 2009 Tony Awards held in Radio City Music Hall here in New York.


Friday finally arrived Natalie got Emily and I out of Manhattan and over to the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn. It really is a cute area, a nice break from Manhattan, but Emily and I decided to stage a photo looking as if we stepped in to a crazy place...haha

Natalie introduced us to one of her favorite artists, Ben Sollee, who put on a free concert in Brooklyn Friday night. Ben plays the cello and sings- amazing talent! Check out him singing is song How to See the Sun Rise. You can find his album on iTunes. I added it to my music collection. :)

Ben playing the cello along with guitarist, and a new addition to his act, Morgan, the banjo player. Ben, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, was playing in New York awhile ago and happened to see Morgan playing his banjo down on a subway platform. Ben asked Morgan to come play with him and they make a great duo! The funny thing is we saw Morgan playing on the subway platform on our way to Brooklyn as well!

Saturday morning, Brianna, my uncle's step-daughter from California, came to visit New York City. She had been staying with her aunt about an hour out of the city near New Jersey and wanted to see NYC before heading back to the West Coast. I wanted to see the city from above one more time so we headed over to Rockefeller Center and went up to the Top of the Rock- almost an equivalent of the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.

Looking north over Central Park from the Top of the Rock

Brianna and I looking south towards the Empire State Building

After coming back down to the ground, we walked in the lower part of the GE Building and found the Swarovski Crystals shop. Of course we were attracted to the pretty, shiny things :)

More shiny objects

After grabbing some lunch at Hale and Hearty Soups and Sandwiches, we walked back east and ended up going in to St. Patrick's Cathedral.

As we walked in to the church, we could hear a voice talking over the loudspeaker, but didn't think anything of it. As we walked closer towards the front of the church we found quite a surprise! A wedding was going on! How would you like to get married in front of your friends and family, plus tons of tourists!?

The happy couple. After we left and walk around the other side of the church, we noticed another bride and groom waiting with their attendants to have their turn at the altar. Popular place to tie the knot!

More of the gorgeous interior of the cathedral

More waiting for the 6 train at the 51st/Lex stop to go downtown and transfer to the 4 train to get to Battery Park City.

There was a vendor just outside of Battery Park City that was giving out free samples of a new beverage on the market- Coca Cola is introducing, or rather testing, a new "Vibrancy" drink called Vio that features sparkling water with a hint of milk and fruit flavors. It was hot out and the cold drink, for free, hit the spot, even if it was a little weird. :)

In attempt to see the Statue of Liberty in a different way, for me at least, Brianna and I caught a Staten Island Ferry running from Lower Manhattan to the island. It's always fun, for a land-locked gal like myself, to be out on the water.

Looking back at Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry

Yet ANOTHER post office picture for you, Dad. There was a wife taking a picture of her husband by this sign as well...she explained he worked for the post office. I understood completely. :)
Ferry Terminal Station on Staten Island, NY.

We went for a stroll on Staten Island for a few minutes and came across this 9/11 memorial called "Postcards". You can see in the picture below how the two slabs direct your view towards the island of Manhattan. What a sight that must have been that day.

This is the inside of the memorial on Staten Island. Each "postcard" has a name of a person that passed in the attacks, where they worked, and their birth date. Look close to see the silhouettes of the faces of people lost.

On Saturday night, we were walking in Brooklyn and passed this guy on the sidewalk.
"Natalie, that guy had an Iowa State shirt on!" I said. So we turned around and asked him about his shirt. He was very confused and didn't understand what Iowa State "was". After explaining that Iowa State was a school and we were students there, he told us he was from Chile and his brother-in-law gave him the shirt. The best part was the girl he was walking around with didn't understand English (he translated back to her what we were saying) , yet was one of those tourists that videotaped everything. Needless to say, we'll be in their video of memories from New York City.

We continued walking and got to the destination we were seeking. Known as the Brooklyn Bridge Park, we plopped down to enjoy the view of the sunset and eventually the lights of the Manhattan skyline, highlighted by the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. It is probably one of my favorite views of the city!

Natalie treated us by stopping at the bake shop on 2nd Ave to get cupcakes. I'm usually not a fan of frosting, besides the stuff out of the can and my mom's sugar cookie frosting, but this stuff was to die for. Buttercream frosting- delicious!

Setting sun and lights of the city

Brianna and I with the view in the background

Natalie and I sitting in the park. It was surprisingly not very busy- a nice break from the people of Manhattan!

Brianna and Natalie devouring their cupcakes

Self-timer lent itself to this photo shoot. Finally a good one!
Natalie, Hallie, and Brianna

Looking right towards the north, the Manhattan Bridge lights up the water beneath it.

And looking left towards the south and lower Manhattan. The Brooklyn Bridge sparkles in the dark night. I called Mom while in the park because I couldn't remember the name of a book that Lavar Burton used to read on the childhood show, Reading Rainbow. It was a picture book about a family that had a rooftop garden in New York City and there was a picture of the lights on the Brooklyn Bridge at night. We still have not figured out what the title of the book is....

Sunday, we went up to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or better known as The Met. Not being a big art buff, I went mostly with the mind set of "I should go since I'm in New York City." It was exactly what I expected it to be- lots of impressive art that is very old. I can appreciate art masterpieces because of the historical value. It really is amazing to see the works that people did so long ago. Yet, I was appreciative of a few gems Brianna and I found in the special exhibits.

One of the special exhibits was called The Model as Muse, Embodying Fashion. Another area that I usually don't get in to, I was surprised how interesting I found this exhibit dedicated to fashion. As you turned each corner, a new decade was displayed in a way that related to the style of that decade. From the fallible fashion of the 40's and 50's to the craziness of the 60's and 70's and in to the modern styles of the 80's, 90's, and today- I was entertained seeing how looks have changed, and come back again over the years. The attention to detail and complete exhibit, including the music playing during each decade's display, was impressive!

There was an area of the museum where modern art was on display. It was much different compared to the rooms containing the historical art. The are was much more spacious with huge white walls and bright lighting. This piece of art caught my eye because of its simplicity as the slabs of color spread across the wall.

We timed our visit to The Met perfectly with the rain showers that went through the city. It was beginning to sprinkle as we escaped indoors with the hundreds of other people and came out as the sun was beginning to shine through.

Brianna and I in front of The Met

We took our time walking the 25 blocks south back to my place through Central Park. Brianna's aunt told her to be sure and try a New York pretzel from the many vendors on the streets. Yum!

Rain, rain go away...this sidewalk in Central Park has flooded MANY times this summer.

We caught up with Natalie down near St. Mark's Place in the East Village to treat Brianna to the Frozen Yogurt Station. More for less when it's 35 cents and ounce!

Brianna and Natalie enjoying their frozen yogurt goodness

With only an hour or so before Brianna's aunt was going to be back in the city to pick her up, we walked over from St. Mark's Place to Washington Square Park near the NYU campus. This is the famous arch that is a mock-up of the one found in France. For you Friends fans out there, this is shown many times on the TV show.

The giant fountain in the park was a common attraction for many kids and even some far from childhood in the warm weather. This kid found fun with an umbrella in the many water spouts of the fountain.

After Brianna left on Sunday night, I prepared for my last week at work! How time flies! Mom was coming on Wednesday morning- more fun to be had!